The Effect of Fluid Type and Volume on Concentrated Solar Sphere Power Generation

Because of the rising need for renewable energy sources, several innovative systems that use natural resources to create energy and deliver power have emerged. The solar sphere system (a container) is a novel system that gathers and focuses solar energy emitted by the sun at a focal point on a multijunction device. The multijunction device is made up of a high-efficiency solar cell that transforms sunlight into energy. Many aspects/parameters in the solar sphere system influence the quantity of power generation and the related efficiency, resulting in increased overall system performance. The factors are the fluid medium inside the container/sphere and the volume or the amount of the fluid oil inside the sphere. In our previous research paper, the size, thickness, fluid medium, and some shapes were investigated. It was confirmed that the oil is the best fluid medium, and the sphere is the best shape to generate the highest efficiency and highest output power. As a result, the purpose of this work is to explore and investigate the possible kind of fluid oil, and the volume/amount of the oil inside the sphere to determine the influence of these factors on the performance of the solar sphere. The results of the trials revealed that these factors have a substantial impact on power output and system efficiency. From the results, it is found that the fluid oil type and the effect of fluid oil volume/amount inside the solar sphere significantly change the value of the output power. Hence, in order to improve the efficiency of the solar sphere, cooking oil (sunflower coconut, corn oil) is the best. Moreover, the acrylic sphere should be filled with oil completely in order to generate the highest output power and higher efficiency.